Apparatus for disintegrating cereals and other granular materials



July 8, 1941. A. E. FRANCOIS APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING CEREALS AND, OTHER GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Aug. 9, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a M n QMQBQ July 8, 1941. A. E. FRANCOIS APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING CEREALS AND OTHER GRANUL XR MATERIALS Filed Aug. 9, 1959 s sh ets-sheets:

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APPARATUS FOR DISINTEGRATING CEREALS AND OTHER GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Aug. 9, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F5 Q mmweys Patented July 8, 1941 v APPARATUS non nism'rnona'rmo cann- ALS AND o'rnnn GBANULAR MATERIALS Auguste Eugne Francois, Paris, France Application August 9, 1939, Serial No. 2891284 In FranceAngust 16, 1938 2 Claims.

The present inventionrelates to apparatus for disintegrating, in the dry state, cereals, vegetable grains and all cr'ystalloid grains.

The chief object of the present invention is to' provide such an apparatus ensuring a more eflicient and regular disintegration of the matters to other apertures (not visible on the drawings) which may be'connected to a source of suction. Drum i is carried by a frame 76 through the intermediary of rollers I bearing on said frame be treated through simple and strong mechanical means, and modifying the physical state and the qualities of the disintegrated matters.

An essential feature of the present invention consists in exposing the matters, during, and even after, their disintegration, to the action of rays having particular properties (ultra-violet, infrared rays). q I

An'essentiai feature of the device according to the present invention consists in eifecting the disintegration by means of a cylinder or drum having a continuous circular movement, of uniand which are in contact with the lateral wall of the drum, being engaged between guiding rails 8. The rollers are mounted by pairs on spindles t capable of rotating freely in their bearings l0 carried by frame 5.

In the example shown by Figs. 1 and 2, the drum is caused to rotate through the intermediary of a connecting rod il inged at one end to a crank pin l2 mounted on he end plate 2 of the drum, while the other end of said connecting rod ll ispivoted to a crank pin l3 mounted on a driving disc I. This disc-is keyed on a shaft l5 capable of being driven. by suitable motive form or adjustable speed and providing in said cylinder or drum at least one brush capable of constantly detaching the disintegrated particles of matter treated'from the abrasive inner lining of the cylinder or drum. v Other features of the present invention will result from the following detailed description of some specific'embodiments thereof.

, Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the-accompanying drawings, given merely by way of example, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section of a disintegrating device made according to a flrstembodiment of the'invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line III[ of- Fig. 3 is a plan view of a disintegrating device made according to a invention.

In the following description, it will be assumed that the apparatus is made for disintegrating cereals or the like. J y

The apparatus includes at least one cylindrical drum I, of 'circular section for instance, the lateral wall of which carries-on its inner face, an abrasive lining constituted by suitable powdery matters such as flint, by 'a perforated metal sheet, corrugated steel or the like. The end plates, 2 and 80f the cylindricaidrumconstltute a portion of said-inner wall, so that the whole constitutes a cylinder closed on all sides into which the mat- ;place, in the example shown by the drawings '(Figs. 1 and 2) through the same apertures, or

means, for instance through the medium of a belt i6 adapted to be engaged at will either on a driving pulley H, in the case in which it is desired to drive the drum, or on a freely rotating pulley, adjacent to said drivin pulley II, when a it is desired to stop the machine.- When belt I6 is engaged on pulley I1, I obtain a continuous drive of drum I by the driving disc l4 and through the intermediary of connecting rod ll.

When it is desired to drive drum I, such as 2 above described, at an adjustable speed, I may,

as shown by Fig. 3, mount on the lateral wall of said drum a toothed wheel I! which meshes with a pinion 1.9 keyed on a driving shaft 20. This" shaft 20 carries a pulley 2| on which is engaged second embodiment-of the a belt 22 driven by another pulley 23 at an adjustable speed and for instance through the intermediary of the following means: Pulley 23 is fixed on an intermediate shaft 2d driven by va conical pulley 25 associated with a conical pulley 25 of inverse arrangement, these two last mentioned pulleys being connected together by a belt 26. This belt 26' can be given an axial displacement with respect to the pair of conical. pulleys 25 and 25 through the intermediary of a fork-shaped member 21 mounted on a sleeve 28 engaged on a threaded rod 29,. In this case, itsuflices to drive conical pulley 25 by means of any suitablesource of power, and to adjust the position of belt 28 withrespect to pulleys 25 and 25 for obtaining a drive of drum i at any desired, and adjustablespeed.

Advantageously, 'as shown by Fig. 3, I adjoin to the adjustable speed device a second analogous device, including the opposed conical pulleys 30 and 30', connected together by means ofbelt 3| the axial position ofwhich with respect to said pulleys can be modified through the intermediary of sleeve 32 and threaded rod 33. In this case, I mount on the spindle of pulley 30? a driving pulley 34 driven in any suitable manner, and I connect the pair of pulleys 30 and to the other pair of pulleys 25 and 25 through the intermediary of a belt 35 engaged on the pulleys keyed respectively on the spindles of conical pulleys 30 and 25. The synchronous rotation of threaded rods 29 and 33 can be obtained through the intennediate of a hand-wheel 36 which drives a sprocket wheel 31 around which passes a chain 38 meshing both with pinion 39 keyed on rod 29 I and with pinion 39 keyed on rod 33'.

In order to free the abrasive lining ifrom the particles produced by the disintegrated matters and this in a continuous manner, I make use of a cylindrical brush 40 fixed on a spindle 4| the ends of which are mounted in bearings 42. The brush is supported by a plate or steel sheet 43 provided with apertures and adapted to act as a spring. This plate is fixed on the external cages 44 of ball bearings 45 freely engaged on trunnions 46 carried by the end plates 2 and 3 of drum I, respectively? A free end of plate 43 carries rollers 41 freely iournalled on the ends of their sup ports 48 and in contact with the inner wall of drum l. The other end of said plate 43 carries, through the intermediate of supports 49, rollers 50 which are also in contact with the inner face of drum l in such manner as to roll thereon. This movement of rotation of rollers 50 is transmitted to brush 40 through the intermediateof gear wheels 5| keyed respectively on- ,the spindle of rollers 50'and on the spindle 4| of brush 40. It follows that said brush is constantly driven in a direction opposed to the movement of rotation of drum I, while being constantly kept in elastic'contact with the abrasive lining of said drum. ,With such an arrangement, this lining is cleaned in a continuous manner and the dis-' 'integrated particles detached therefrom are collected by plate 43. through the apertures provided in said plate. Accordingly, the lining is constantly kept in a clean state and ready to ensure disintegration of the matters that are treated. Furthermore, the working of this brush makes it possible to increase the rotary speed of drum I since the lin-' ing is constantly freed from the disintegrated particles that have a tendency to adhere thereto, whereby this lining can constantly act, in an eflicacious manner, on the matters to be treated.

Advantageously, I provide, on the end plates 2 and 3 of the drum, and more particularly on the end plate 3 opposed to that on which the driving connecting rod II is acting, sources of rays having particular properties, for instance sources of ultra-violet or infra-red rays. As it is These particles can pass} well known, these sources are generally consti tuted by electric lamps, for instance mercury vapour lamps in the case of ultra-violet rays,

which are fed with current through the intermediary of fixed circular rings 52 and 53 which are fitted on a stirrup 54 rigid with frame i. These rings 52, 53 cooperate with contact studs such as 54a driven by drum I in the course of the rotation thereof and which serve to transmit theelectric current to the sources in question. Wires 55 leading respectively to circular rings 52 and 53 permit of connecting said rings to a suitable source of current. Reflectors 58 are advantageously combined with lamps 51, which constitute the sources of rays above mentioned,-for directing the rays coming from these lamps toward the matters to be treated, that is to say in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of drum l.

The system above described permits 01 obtaining a very satisfactory disintegration of the matter with a highmechanlcal efiiciency. 0n the other hand, the presence of the sources of rays having particular properties permits of improv- "ing the physical and other properties of the matter that is treated.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and eiiicient embodiments of the present invention it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition 'and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for disintegrating a matter of the typementioned, which comprises, in combination, a frame, a cylindrical drum of circular cross section journalled about said frame, an

.abrasive lining on the inner surface of saiddrum,

means for rotating said drum about its axis in said frame so that the'matt'er present in said drum-rubs against said lining, circular brush having its axis parallel to the axis of said drum mounted inside said drum, 9. spindle for said brush, springmeans for supporting said spindle so as to keep said brush in contact with said abrasive lining, and rollers adapted to run on the cylindricalinner wall of said drum operatively connected with said spindle for rotating said brush in a direction opposed to the direction of rotation of said drum.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for supporting said spindle in said drum consist of a perforated spring plate.

AUGUS'I'E EUGENE-FRANCOIS. 

